Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to your mailbox.
WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.

There are two Supershows this weekend ahead of Sunday’s pay-per-view.
Raw and Smackdown crews run tonight at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL, followed by Saturday night at the Convention Center in Springfield.
The advertised line up includes John Cena, The Undertaker & Edge vs.
Randy Orton, Batista & Sheamus, and ShowMiz vs. MVP & Kofi Kingston.

Elimination Chamber on Sunday is almost sold out from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Complete line up: Sheamus defending the WWE title against John Cena, Triple H, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase & Kofi Kingston in the Raw Chamber; The Undertaker defending the World heavyweight title against John Morrison, R-Truth, CM Punk, Chris Jericho & Rey Mysterio in the Smackdown Chamber; Maryse vs. Gail Kim for the vacant Divas title; and Drew McIntyre vs. Kane for the IC title.

Raw TV is Monday from Indianapolis and the Smackdown tapings are Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Today’s New York Times has an interesting report on the U.S.
government’s plans to crack down on businesses that misclassify independent contractors. This could affect WWE, TNA and other companies that classify their workers as independent contractors — when it’s universally accepted that they really aren’t. The report notes the most often misclassified workers are truck drivers, construction workers, home health aides and high-tech engineers. And everyone is questioning why Linda McMahon is running for Senate with $50 million of the McMahon empire? Just saying. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/yzz498r.

Here are some fun facts on the Elimination Chamber. The structure was manufactured in Colorado Springs, taking between six to eight weeks to fabricate from the design blueprints. The Chamber cost $250,000 to construct. A 50-foot flatbed truck is needed to transport the chamber, and assembly in the arena takes up to eight hours to complete. When not in use, the structure is stored at a dock in Newark. The structure weighs 16 tons, 10 of which consists of steel. Each inner chamber is made of three sheets of plexiglass, costing $225 per sheet. Two miles of chain are used along with eight motors to suspend the structure over the ring at each event it’s used.

The Divas title match on Sunday is the first women’s match on a February WWE PPV since No Way Out in 2001 that saw Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley over Trish Stratus.

According to a story from Variety, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan have been attached to WWE Studios film Big Red with Randy Orton. The film is set in 1960s, and follows a 12-year-old boy whose English teacher [Harris] gives him a project with school outcast, Big Red. Madigan will play the school’s principal. Orton plays the father of the outcast who wants to get the teacher fired. The film will start shooting in and around New Orleans next week. The casting of Harris and Madigan is part of the WWE’s latest strategy of putting it’s wrestlers with established actors, rather than having them carry an entire film like they have done in the past with John Cena and Steve Austin.

An update on Lance Cade. He worked an FCW house show late last year but he hasn’t been seen around developmental since. Nobody is sure when he is supposed to start or what brand he’ll wind up on. There will likely be big changes in developmental right after Wrestlemania following the annual draft.

Savannah [Angela Fong] has a not very PG role as a sorority girl in a recent direct-to-video release called Ratko: The Dictator’s Son. The film was shot before she signed with WWE and features nudity throughout and scenes of drug use.

The Bella Twins are hosting a Celebrity Poker Tournament next Thursday in West Hollywood. It’s a charity event to raise awareness of Lupus — a connective tissue disease. 21+ only. More info at www.lupusla.org.

Ken Hoffman of the Houston Chronicle interviews Triple H about the new Mattel WWE action figures at http://tinyurl.com/yjtkny8. “Not to sound corny, sure this is a business, but to put a smile on a kid’s face or to see a child in one my T-shirts, that’s why we do this. When kids see you and they go crazy, and they’re nervous around you and excited, it’s a wonderful feeling. To visit a Make-a-Wish child and make him happy, even for five minutes, is the most amazing feeling you can have. It’s the ultimate compliment I can receive as a performer.”

The WWE website has an update on The Godfather, Charles Wright. He’s currently running a night club in Las Vegas called Cheetahs. “I’m the happiest and most content I’ve ever been in my life,” he says. “I’m out here spending time with my family after missing so much time watching them grow up while on the road. I have a six year-old boy now who I can still have my time with.” He added: “Things have worked out very well for me… I spend time with my family, I ride my dirt bike, play disc golf, get in the gym when I can and just enjoy it all.”

Stephanie McMahon was interviewed by WWE Magazine for their special WrestleMania 26 Almanac. She talked about having a soft spot for giants like Big Show and Great Khali saying she had a special bond with Andre the Gitant as a child. Recalling Wrestlemania III, she said: “I knew that night that Andre was hurting, and having some back trouble. When my dad was in booking meetings, I always listened in, and I remember hearing a lot about Andre and the pain he was in. So I watched that match [Andre vs. Hulk Hogan[ with a lot of emotion, feeling sorry for my friend. For me personally, that was the most poignant moment I ever experienced at WrestleMania.” Other Wrestlemania moments that were special to her: “I think certain moments stand out more than others, like Undertaker-Shawn from last year. The WrestleMania 24 Orlando show stands out for me because of the open roof and because the spectacle of it all felt so special.”

TNA are on the road in the Northeast this weekend with shows tonight at the Rec. Department Center in Plattsburgh, NY, and Saturday at the St.
Lawrence Centre in Massena, NY. The advertised line up is AJ Styles vs.
The Pope; Jeff Jarrett vs. Mr. Anderson; Matt Morgan & Hernandez vs.
Beer Money; plus a crew of Abyss, Desmond Wolfe, Doug Williams, Kaz, Homicide, Angelina Love, and ODB.

There is at least talk among TNA management about reducing the number of annual pay-per-view events. The general consensus seems to be that they could run less monthly PPVs, and work alongside Spike TV on producing some three-hour live specials much like Spike does with the UFC. As far as commitments to the PPV companies go, TNA feels they could get out of those with little notice. Dixie Carter is especially said to be a proponent of pulling back feeling that they can focus on a longer build and generate more buys in the long term, as well as additional television income from specials on Spike. TNA doesn’t publicly release any PPV data as they are a private company. They also have their office staff sign multi year confidentiality agreements not to divulge any private data.

Suicide may not be done as a character after all. There is talk of someone else, perhaps Kiyoshi, taking over. Frankie Kazarian was back working as Kaz at television this week.

Episode 3 of Epics featuring the X-Division has been removed from Spike’s schedule for March 18. No word yet on when the show will air.

Two buildings that were host to memorable pro wrestling shows dating
back many years are due to be razed later this year. The Wachovia
Spectrum, formerly the Philadelphia Spectrum, will soon make way for a
hotel, and the Mellon Arena [nickname The Igloo] in Pittsburgh, home of
the Pittsburgh Penguins, will likely be demolished after completion of
the Consol Energy Center, a new arena for the Penguins due to open for
the 2010–11 NHL season. SEA, Mellon Arena’s owner, recently conducted a
historic assessment of the arena and found it’s eligible to appear on
the National Register of Historic Places mainly because of its unique,
retractable dome. A private consultant to SEA was also hired to conduct
a survey, and the recommendations are due to be delivered in June. The
most supported option is to demolish the arena and find a developer to
create a residential and retail district on the site. Vince McMahon
promoted cards at the Spectrum on a regular basis during the 1980s and
1990’s. Among the major events which the building hosted were SummerSlam
in 1990, King of the Ring in 1995, and various other monthly shows
featuring Hulk Hogan as the main draw. After the WWF moved their shows
to the adjacent Wachovia Center, WCW promoted shows at the Spectrum
until the company was purchased in 2001. The Melon Arena hosted
Summerslam in 1995, and King of the Ring in 1998, and other PPVs. WWE
will tape Raw at the arena which could be their last ever show there on
May 10.

Former ECW valet Francine Fournier celebrates a birthday today. She is
pretty much out of the business these days living in Delaware taking
care of her young children and focusing on family life.

Seducing Cindy with former WWE wrestler Ken Doane airs Saturday night at
9pm ET on the Fox Reality Channel. The series is likely the channel’s
last original programming as the channel is being discontinued on March
31. The series follows former model Cindy Margolis on her search for
love. We actually have a reader who auditioned for the show. They write:
‘It was just nerve-wrecking as hell. Two very young attractive girls put
me in front of a camera and basically told me to repeat every question
asked, but without saying the question, just repeating it in the phrase
of my answer. And I f–ked that up just about every time I answered a
question. They asked me how I would deal with the fact that [Cindy] had
kids, how I would handle being the youngest person there and what she
might think being with someone more than half her age. It was the first
audition I did, and I was already late because of LA traffic so I was
nervous from that too. The best part was when I got there and the guy
going before me had on a business suit. We chatted for a bit and he
seemed like a nice enough guy. Then he came out afterwards with the suit
off, and his button-up shirt drenched with sweat.’

I watched an advance copy of Rob Van Dam’s film Wrong Side of Town last
night. Batista does a decent job in his role but the film has already
received some pretty bad reviews. I’ll leave it at that. Rapper Ja Rule
and former WWE wrestler Viscera also co-star. The film is about an
ex-Navy Seal [Van Dam] trying to escape the city with his wife and
daughter after an accident leaves the brother of a club owner dead. The
DVD goes on sale next Tuesday.

The Ultimate Warrior has a new website in the works and wants to
increase his online presence this year.

There is a fundraising dinner for the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame on
Saturday night at the Regency House Hotel (Route 23 North), in Pompton
Plains, New Jersey with Mick Foley, Chief Jay Strongbow, Howard Finkel,
JJ Dillon, Dawn Marie, and many more. Foley will have personal and
career items available to every ticket holder. Other Foley mementos will
be available for sale. More info at www.pwhf.org.

NWS runs the high school in Bloomfield, NJ, on Saturday night with
Nunzio, Sunny, and Jim Duggan. More info at www.nwswrestling.com.

GQ Money (XPW, WSX, TNA) has opened up The Fit Pit Pro Wrestling School
in the San Fernando Valley, right outside of Hollywood, CA. The Fit Pit
holds classes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1pm and again in the
evening at 8pm. The Fit Pit also has a complete gym of weights, open to
students to get their workout outside of actual training sessions.
Former guest trainers include Austin Aries, Paul London and Kendrick.
For more info you can call (818) 206-5803 or visitwww.MakeMeAProWrestler.com.

Ringside Rap hosted by Rich Tate, Les Thatcher, and Mike Sempervive had
Chris Hero on for about 45 minutes on Wednesday night. You can listen to
the show at www.georgiawrestlinghistory.com.

A correction from earlier this week. The Jeff Hardy and Shannon Moore
autograph signing at George’s Cards & Collectibles in Levittown, PA, is
actually Monday from 7-9pm, not Sunday.

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